A systemic understanding of negotiations in context can provide a rich source of
information and a trigger for exposing and addressing barriers to advancement and
innovation. This article seeks to develop the capacity to connect individual level negotiations
with institutional interventions that reshape the context within which negotiations
occur. Often, the capacity to address recurring imbalances in the dynamics of individual
negotiations requires systemic analysis and intervention (Sturm & Gadlin, 2007). This
linkage of the individual and the systemic can be achieved through the development ofroles and practices that enable both analysis and intervention to proceed simultaneously
on individual and systemic levels, and to calibrate the level of intervention to match the
circumstances of a particular situation. If these linkages are built into the system, a particular
negotiation or conflict presents a powerful opportunity for learning that can trigger
improvement of the larger social context. Negotiations present occasions when the
prevailing institutional order is called into question (Meyerson, 2001). They can operate
as artifacts, revealing how the many and varied patterns of relationship come together
at the level of practice. Negotiations also provide opportunities to identify and surface
patterns of interaction and norms. Within the microcosm of a negotiation, it is possible
to unpack the manifestation of interacting systems. This article explains how to increase
the likelihood that negotiation and conflict resolution trigger these opportunities for
institutional reflection and revision.